


Why Deny the Chemistry?

by Agent_Pumpkin01



Category: Impractical Jokers
Genre: Gay, Impractical Jokers - Freeform, Joe Gatto - Freeform, M/M, NSFW in later chapters, Sal vulcano - Freeform, Two men - Freeform, gay relationship, joe gatto x sal vulcano - Freeform, joe x sal - Freeform, sal x joe - Freeform, same sex, vulgatto - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-23
Updated: 2015-12-23
Packaged: 2018-05-08 16:24:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5504618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Agent_Pumpkin01/pseuds/Agent_Pumpkin01
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Because I don't understand the lack of Joe/Sal love in this gross-ass world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sucky Television

Sat side by side on the couch, the Jokers stare at the screen, Joe in disbelief while Sal bites his knuckles and watches the screen with slowly widening eyes. There’s little to be said except for the fact that Gatto finds this show lame as all hell, but it has reached the hours in which neither of them can be bothered to change the channel due to nothing being on at all. It’s this, or nothing, and the air between them is too thick to do anything but distract themselves.

Currently, one of the female leads is crying over an affair her lover had had, begging them not to leave while they vehemently claimed they weren’t good enough for them. Joe stares blankly, unmoved, for the acting is sub-par at most. He groans inwardly, reaches an arm out for the remote– –and hears a sniffle from beside him.

Turning his head with his brow adequately furrowed, Joe looks at Sal to see a slight wetness to his eyes, glare of the television - that being the only thing illuminating the room - alighting the affect of the show on his face as clearly as a mirror would. There are a lot of things going through his mind at that moment and none of them seem to click with the fact that Sal has been brought to tears by a shitty soap opera. Joe’s lips curl into a little smirk as he nudges the other man with his elbow.

 **“That terrible?”** he jokes, grinning when the knuckles currently resting by Sal’s lips connect lightly with his jaw in a mock punch.

 **“Shut up,”** Vulcano grunts, lips pursing. Though he is moved, he’s more moved by Joe. Always has been and always will be; since they’d become closer, all chum and stolen nights, their relationship is a blurry mess - and that’s at best. Lines and boundaries have criss-crossed, zig-zagged into territory that once hadn’t existed, the pair of them simply strapping themselves in for the ride. **“Sue me for havin’ feelings.”**

Joe all but chokes on the breath he’s taking, leans in and places his palm against Sal’s face, patting it mockingly. When Sal doesn’t flinch from his touch, he lingers momentarily, thinks of something else to say but ultimately comes up empty. For a moment, all that transpires is a silence that neither of them know how to break before Joe clears his throat.

**“…this show sucks, man.”**

Tense quiet… and then the sound of Sal’s snuffling laughter breaks it. A fond smile tugs at Joe’s lips and he’s surprised when Sal places a hand on his shoulder and presses his face into the back of it, as if he’s trying to muffle the sounds of his growing amusement. Wheezing follows and Gatto begins to chuckle along with him - because Sal’s happiness is contagious, makes him remember he’s anything but sad in his company. Perhaps that’s why it’s so easy with him: Sal Vulcano makes him happy.

 **“I know, I know…”** Sal concedes, raising a hand to wipe at his eyes. God knows how he’d become such a sap, how he’d even been reduced to weakness with such predictable writing, how he’d felt the presence of tears in the corner of his eyes… he just knows that it had hit home. Though Joe would never cheat (and was it even possible for him to, were they even together?), the ringing of _‘you’re not good enough for me’_ had made him stiffen to a point in which his muscles had felt grievously locked in place; the _‘I can be anything you want!’_ had stricken him with a sense of weakness for he’d realised in that single moment that he felt similarly for the man sat beside him.

Sobering with an almost drunken giggle, the bespectacled man stares at Joe and feels his eyes closing as his thumb comes to brush the corners of his eyes. He’d already wiped himself free of tears, but the sentiment makes him blush regardless.

**“You’re just a big gumball, y’know that, man?”**

Sal can hardly stop himself from grinning, tilting his head when Joe cautiously presses his lips against his own and gives him a chaste kiss. A moment later, Joe pulls away and nuzzles the other man’s nose with his own before scoffing low in his throat.

**“A big gumball with a sucky taste in TV.”**


	2. Christmas Shopping

Sal’s been in a fit of laughter for three whole minutes over some phallic-looking kitchen appliance (was it a blender?) and Joe has been holding him up while trying not to lose his head. Deciding to come out together to do the shopping for the two more complicated of the bunch, they’d been tossing ideas around all day.

Every comic book they’d come across, Sal had dutifully reported that ‘Oh, Q already has that one’ and Joe had diligently listed off every bowtie and weird device that Murray owned. They seemed to be stuck at a crossroads, one that was not giving way easily on either side.

 **“We could just toss ‘em a loop and say we’ve ordered somethin’ from somewhere else. Could give us more time,”** Sal suggests, shrugging his shoulders. He has experience with getting Joe Christmas presents from other places due to the man being spontaneous at heart; Vulcano would rather him not spend stupid amounts of money on things he wasn’t going to use again, rather he’d do him a favour and squander on a Christmas present that he would have had to get for him either way.

**“Yeah but what the hell’re we gonna say when they wake up on Christmas day with nothin’?”**

The question makes Sal wince, hands curling in his pockets before he raises his shoulders as he shrinks back. Joe sighs.

**“C’mon, bud, we’ll just try another store.”**

X x

 **“Yes, yes, yes, oh-my-God, Murray is gonna flip!” Sal** exclaims with excitement as he turns the gag-present over in his hands. A robot-control ferret, tail constructed cleverly to host an infrared system that made it respond to the controller. Joe laughs outwardly before rushing with the box to the counter.

When the two men approach the counter and slam the box definitively onto it, the cashier looks up and smiles brightly before beginning to scan it.

 **“Christmas shopping?”** she chirps jovially, pressing an assortment of buttons on the register. Joe nods, taking hold of the conversation the way he normally does, though not before the lady speaks again. **”I’m sure your child will love it!”**

Sal practically chokes on the breath he’s taking. **“Our chi– _Murray_ –”**

“Yeah, yeah,” Joe interrupts, grinning and slinging an arm around the other man. So she’s being a little presumptuous… but she’s so happy, so bright, that Joe can hardly bear to embarrass her; he’s kind like that, irrevocably so and it is a child’s toy so he supposes he can’t blame her for thinking they were buying for a younger audience- and he gets to fuck with Sal. “Our little James is a sucker for ferrets; loves ‘em to death. Actually kind’a looks like one.”

**“Oh, that so sweet! I think it’s so great that things are getting more progressive; two fathers buying for their child, it just makes me so happy! You two have a good Christmas, won’t you?”**

Sal has choked up, red rushing to his cheeks as Joe takes the bagged gag-gift from the lady and smiles before locking fingers around Sal’s palm. Silently, a slight sweat on his forehead, Sal takes it and squeezes tightly.

 **“We will! Christmas is a really good chance to have us boys all together as a family… plus,”** Joe pauses, leans in a little and Sal feels the urge to cover his face with his free hand. **“…it gives us adults a little time alone when the kid’s all tuckered out, if y’know what I mean.”**

The lady flushes but she giggles cheerily, slapping Joe’s arm lightly when he gives her a suggestive wink and laughs along with her. Sal is mortified… and yet the idea of snuggling close to Joe as Christmas draws to a close makes his heart thump and his pulse run quicker. It sounds good to him… but before he has chance to question himself any longer, Joe is dragging him out of the store by the hand with the box in his other, sly grin on his face as they step out into the cold night air.

Silence, and Vulcano finally dares to take his hand away from his face as soon as the dark of night overtakes them. Quiet, bated breath… and then Joe explodes with laughter, clinging to the other man’s shoulders as legs give out beneath him. And Sal… as much as he wants to be angry and embarrassed, he starts laughing too, breaths wheezed as he sinks with Joe.

Soon enough, people are walking around them as they lower slowly to the ground, laughing so hysterically that they’re trying to one-up each other in order to support themselves. Eventually, they find it in themselves to stand up, weak-limbed and gasping for air as Joe’s fingers reassign to the bag handle and drag it from the pavement.

 **“Oh God… you asshole,”** Sal mumbles, wiping tears from his eyes as Joe stands up straight once more. His arm comes to link with the other man’s, holding tightly as he leans in and presses a mocking kiss to his cheek. Exaggeratedly, Sal leans in and eskimo-kisses Joe so frantically that laughter leaves him once more. **“Me and the boyfriend, makin’ our way downtown.”**

Joe snorts. **“Yeah, c’mon, baby, we got a kid to get back to.”**

The pair continue down the street with passing jokes and comments as usual, laughing all the way - but neither one of them let of the other’s arm.


	3. Keep Breathing

**“Keep your eyes on me.”**

Sal’s wheezing, overcome with panic as he shakes and quivers. His lover takes his face, holds it in palms that smooth over his skin and remind him that he’s still alive. Heart thumping, blood rushing, and yet he feels as if he can breathe a little easier.

The pools of blue that he gets so effortlessly lost in make his vision swim, his hands scrabbling desperately at Joe’s forearms until Joe takes them in his own and holds them down by his sides to stop him from hurting him or himself.

**“Breathe, okay? You’re okay.”**

Sal heaves - almost vomits, and would have done if not for the germaphobia that has his vision blackening around the edges eating at his centre. Fear. Cold, hard fear. It’s something that’s all too familiar to the bespectacled Joker; the times his line of sight flickers, hazes over like static on a television and the air in the room becomes so stifling that he’s gasping to taste the tang of oxygen in his lungs.

Hands on his face, ceasing the shaking of his head and forcing him to look at the other man.

 **“Joe,”** Sal rasps desperately, unable to say anything else as his core rattles and somersaults into oblivion. **“Joe, God– help me–”**

 **“Shh.”** Slowly, Gatto guides the man to sit and kneels in front of him, guiding his head to rest on his knees. **“I’m here for ya, buddy. You just keep takin’ big breaths and you’ll be fine. C’mon, with me.”** And he’s taking in huge gulps of air, holding it and then releasing it slowly. Sal does his best to copy, breaths stuttering and turning into hyperventilation, but eventually he manages to breathe easy enough to sit up straight.

Sweat coats his brow, his face, his arms and on the onslaught of another shake Vulcano reassigns his head back between his knees and chokes out a terrified sob. Carefully, oh-so gently, Joe strokes through his damp hair, holds him close and whispers words of encouragement. It’s not the first time he’s helped him through an attack, but it certainly didn’t make it any easier. Knowing what to do and actually doing it were two different things.

Eventually, Sal finds the strength to look up and allows his lips to fight the trembling as a wobbly smile appears on his face as Joe wipes his face. Sweat coats the Joker’s hands, the shine of it catching the light. Lips are pressed to his equally clammy forehead.

**“You’re doin’ so good, Sal. Ya just keep focusin’ on me, okay?”**

Sal nods.

**“I love ya, Sal.”**

**“…love you…”**

Exhausted, Sal all but collapses into the other man when his arms are coiled carefully around his body. He’s still trembling, though it isn’t nearly as bad. He needs a shower, badly, but he doesn’t trust his legs to not give way beneath him so he stays, locked in the reassuring prison of his arms.

And hell, if he was able to stay enslaved forever for the sheer comfort of it, he would.

Because he may be horrified, terrified, so scared it takes his breath away, but Joe Gatto always makes it better.


	4. Got the Giggles

**"We can't film it until ya stop gigglin'!"** Joe exclaims, fighting back a smile as Sal dissolves into tears of laughter. The brush of his lips, the over-dramatic whispering of the scene... it's all enough to make him feel tingly, and such a feeling can only be treated as a joke in the face of the other man for he doesn't know if he feels the same sensations. Could he? **"Ya wanna pull yourself together, man?!"**

 **"S–Sorry–!"** Vulcano chokes out, looking up at Joe who now stands above him, doing his best to look annoyed. Arms folded over his chest, lips pursed (though a smirk peeks through the longer he watches Sal convulse with humour), Joe gets to his knees before hovering over the other man once more.

**"All right. One more time. We're gonna get it this time."**

Sal just nods stupidly, biting his lower lip before he can burst into hysterics once more.

As he feels Joe's satisfying weight atop him once more, he has to remind himself that it's for the show, that it's not real... and yet that hurts him so much he pushes the thought away. The truth? Maybe he's been a little easier to tickle because he wants to have multiple attempts at kissing Joe Gatto; because he wants more.

The shaky _'Mal...?'_ and Vulcano tenses as he feels the brief peck of the Joker's mouth against his own, hands clenching into fists as he wills himself not to take Joe by the back of the neck and kiss him so hard he forgets how to breathe. The tingles, the oncoming heat... it's all enough to make Sal splutter quietly and Joe huffs, picking himself up enough to glare at the other man.

**"Ya wanna come on, man?"**

All the bespectacled Joker can do is shrug apologetically. Gatto's gaze darkens somewhat at the sheepish nature of the other for it's such a distinctive piece of his personality that, this close, it seems more intimate and personal than usual.

**"Don't make me pull out the big guns."**

And for a moment, Sal's worried, because Joe has plenty of ways of making him squirm without him enjoying it. Hell, all he'd have to do is lick him with elongated precision and the Joker would be in shambles beneath him.

The scene is attempted again. The soft mumble of _'Mal...?'_ , the brief brush of Joe's lips against his own and the familiar tickle in his gut as laughter bubbles inside. He's stunned as the first syllable of humour spills from his lips... only for Joe to kiss him hard, effectively silencing him.

**"Mmf–?!"**

But Joe doesn't release him. Instead, hands roughly pull at his collar and pry his lips open with an invasive tongue. Sal can hardly help himself: he moans, 'bloodied' hands sliding up to stroke at Joe's face. His presence, his firmness, his slight aggression... it all makes for the perfect kiss and Sal wants more, legs shifting to tangle with Gatto's as he tilts his head and has their exchange deepened.

Tongues brush, then slide against one another with unadulterated passion as feelings that had been brushed aside too many times to count explode and rush through veins like the very blood that keeps them alive. Rushing, getting more and more heated as Sal's top button is fiddled with in a desperate attempt to feel skin, they pull apart to breathe.

Joe breathes heavily, panting lightly at their exertion and, much to Sal's delight, blushing at their kiss. It's such a stupid thing to get embarrassed about (after all, he'd initiated it) but he does anyway. Why? Because he craves more.

 **"...t–teach ya to laugh when I'm kissin' ya..."** Joe mumbles, averting his gaze as he regains his breath and sits up, straddling the other. After a moment of silence, he shifts... and feels a smirk tugging at his lips as he realises that _Sal is hard_. **"Ya enjoyin' yourself, bud?"**

Vulcano flushes pink, then crimson, a hand coming to clasp over his mouth as fingers try to sweep the colour away. It's in vain for he can feel the heat seeping through his skin, a short gasp leaving him as Gatto purposefully grinds against him once and then sits still once more.

**"J–Joey..."**

Joe bares teeth in the form of a wicked smirk. **"We'll see if you're laughin' by the time I'm done with ya."**


End file.
